The present invention relates to an improved adsorbent unit which contains a separate compartment containing fluent refrigerant tracer dye which is located outside of the adsorbent container of the adsorbent unit.
By way of background, adsorbent units are used in refrigerant accumulators of an automotive air conditioning system for the purpose of adsorbing moisture from the refrigerant. In the past a refrigerant tracer dye having different forms was placed directly into the adsorbent container portion of the adsorbent unit. Examples of the various ways in which this was done are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,563. The purpose of the refrigerant tracer dye was to detect refrigerant leaks in the system by displaying the color of the tracer dye at the point of leakage when the refrigerant system was tested. If the tracer dye mingled with the adsorbent, it could cause erroneous high water content readings of the adsorbent. In the past, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,563, in one embodiment the tracer dye was placed in powder form in a filter bag within the adsorbent container. Thus, the dye had to pass through the filter bag, then pass through the adsorbent and then through the permeable casing of the adsorbent unit before it reached the refrigerant stream. It is with overcoming the foregoing deficiency in an extremely simple and expedient manner that the present invention is concerned.
It is one object of the present invention to integrate fluent refrigerant tracer dye into a separate compartment outside of the adsorbent container of the adsorbent unit to thereby not only prevent interaction between the refrigerant tracer dye and the adsorbent but also permit it to have a direct path into the refrigerant stream.
It is another object of the present invention to not only have a fluent refrigerant tracer dye in a separate compartment outside of the adsorbent container of the adsorbent unit, but also to place such fluent refrigerant tracer dye directly into the tracer dye compartment during manufacture of the adsorbent unit without requiring that the refrigerant tracer dye be formed into any special configuration or placed into a separate packet before it is placed in the adsorbent unit.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an adsorbent unit having a separate compartment of refrigerant tracer dye outside of the adsorbent container of the adsorbent unit wherein fluent refrigerant tracer dye merely has to pass through a single porous wall of the tracer dye compartment in order to mix with the refrigerant of the air conditioning system. Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will readily be perceived hereafter.
The present invention relates to an adsorbent unit for an air conditioning system comprising a porous container, adsorbent in said container, a fluent refrigerant tracer dye, and a separate compartment on said adsorbent unit outside of said porous container containing said fluent refrigerant tracer dye.
The present invention also relates to an adsorbent unit comprising a porous adsorbent container having a width, adsorbent in said container, a tab extending outwardly from said container, an elongated slot in said tab extending in the direction of said width of said container and said tab having a length which approximates the widest portion of said container, and a compartment on said tab containing a fluent refrigerant tracer dye.
The present invention also relates to an adsorbent unit for mounting relative to a U-bend pipe of a refrigerant accumulator having spaced pipes and a return bend comprising a porous container, adsorbent in said container, first and second end portions on said container, first mounting means on said first end portion for placement about said spaced pipes with said container located between said first mounting means and said return bend, second mounting means at said second end of said container for mounting relative to said return bend, and a separate compartment on said adsorbent unit outside of said container containing a fluent refrigerant tracer dye.
The present invention also relates to a refrigerant accumulator having a housing with a bottom wall and a side wall and a U-shaped pipe with a return bend adjacent said bottom wall and with first and second pipe portions extending from said return bend along said side wall, and a filter body extending outwardly from said return bend, the improvement of an adsorbent unit comprising a porous adsorbent container, adsorbent in said container, first and second end portions on said container, a first tab extending outwardly from said first end portion of said container, an elongated slot in said first tab mounting said first tab on said first and second pipe portions, a second tab extending outwardly from said second end portion of said container, an aperture on said second tab mounting said second tab on said filter body, and a compartment on said first tab containing a fluent refrigerant tracer dye.
The various aspects of the present invention will be more fully understood when the following portions of the specification are read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: